MAORI ART

Tattooing

It is now many years since the death of the last man
tattooed in the ancient Maori manner, but women with tattooed
chins may still be seen in many districts. Maori tattoo was
called moko. It differed from other Polynesian
tattoo in that the lines of the patterns were actually cut
into the flesh instead of being merely pricked in. We are
concerned here, however, with the designs, rather than the
other aspects of the craft. Although the practice may be
repulsive to some people, an objective student is impressed
with the fact that Maori tattoo designs were truly a form of
art in the way the various lines were applied to that
somewhat difficult subject, the human face.

From illustrations dating from Cook's time it is apparent
that the facial tattoo designs had become fixed only by the
early nineteenth century. A portrait by Sydney Parkinson, a
careful artist, shows a style that was unknown a generation
or two later. On a background of stippled parallel lines
running vertically from the jaw to the cheek-bone there was a
simple design of connected koru, much like the
designs used in rafter painting. This type of pattern was
called puhoro, and was usually used on the
thighs.

The classical tattoo designs which were in vogue at the
time of European settlement have been studied in detail by
Robley in his monumental work Moko. The principal
elements on a man's face were the pu-kauwae, spiral
designs on the chin; the rerepehi, a series of
parallel curved lines from the chin to the side of the nose;
the paepae, two large multiple spirals on the cheek;
rerepi and pongiangia, spirals on the nose;
and tiwhana, a series of rays curving from the inner
end of the eyebrow, above the brows, and sweeping downwards
above the ear. A fully tattooed man also had a
puhoro type of pattern, called ipurangi, on
the upper part of the forehead, a small motif, called
titi, on the lower part of the forehead, and a
puhoro design, called pu-taringa, between
the ear and the spirals on the cheek. Men frequently had
large spirals (rape) tattooed on the buttocks and
puhoro designs on the thighs. Occasionally other
parts of the body, such as the chest and the backs of the
hands, were tattooed. Women were usually tattooed only on the
lips and the chin, though sometimes a small mark was incised
on the forehead. Some women were also tattooed on the waist
and the thighs, but this was not particularly common.

The pigment used was soot obtained from burning
kahikatea, or white pine, sometimes mixed with kauri
gum or soot from the oily koromiko (hebe) shrub. The
tattooing chisel (uhi) was usually made from the
wing bone of the albatross, or from human bone. It was
mounted in a haft somewhat in the fashion of an adze, and was
struck with a light mallet. The edge of the uhi was
serrated.

Browse the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand

How to cite this page: . 'Tattooing', from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock, originally published in 1966.Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 22-Apr-09URL: http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/1966/maori-art/page-9